Coin controlled vending machine



Jan. 7, 1936. s, NY HOPE Er AL COIN CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINE OriginalFiled July 19, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet l Srmentors Jan. 7, 1936. s, N, HOPEETAL 6 2,026,636

COIN CONTROLLED VENDING MACHIE original Filed Julylsa. 1935 3sheets-sheet 2 Jan. 7, 1936. s. N. HOPE ET AL COIN CONTROLLED VENDINGMACHINE I5 Sheets-(Sheet 5 Original Filed July 19, 1933 16, FIG.

Snventors FIG. 8

Wf@ l 6.067%@ Patented Jan. 7, 1936 PATENT OFFICE COIN CONTROLLEDVENDING MACHINE Samuel N. Hope, Wauwatcsa, and Paul Drath, West Allis,Wis., assignors to Griffith-Hope Company, West Allis, Wis., acorporation ol.'

Wisconsin Original application July 19, 1933, Serial No. 681,118.Divided and this application March 16,1934, Serial No. 715,794

4 Claims.

The invention relates to coin-controlled apparatus suitable for use invending machines and other devices.

An object of the invention is to provide a coincontrolled mechanism ofdurable and compact construction and of such character as to permiteconomical manufacture and easy assembly.

Another object of the invention is to provide a coin-controlledmechanism which is so constructed as to prevent repeatedoperation of themechanism by the same coin.

The invention further consists in the several features hereinafterdescribed and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a vending machine embodying theinvention, the operating parts being in retractedposition;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation similar to Fig. 1 but showing more partsin section, the operating parts being in advanced position ready torelease the coin;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken generally along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken generally along the line 4-4 of Fig. l;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken generally along the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing the operating parts in apartially retracted position after incomplete operation;

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of a guard member for the article-deliverypassage, and

Fig. 8 is a detail sectional View of a cover for `the article magazine.

In these drawings, a rectangular casing is constructed of two sheetmetal parts suitably bent to shape, one of which is of inverted U-shapeto form parallel side walls I5 and a top wall I6, and the other of whichforms a bottom I'I having upturned side flanges I8 secured by rivets I9to the inner faces of the side walls I5. Card holders 28 are here shownto be secured to the outer faces of the side walls I5. The opposite edgeportions of the upper sheet metal parts are bent to form an inturned topflange 2| and inturned side flanges 23, and the front end of the bottomI'I has an upturned flange 25. The corner portions of the bottom I1 arepreferably cut away, as seen in Fig. 4. Rubber feet 2l are fastened tothe bottom I'I.

The device shown in the drawings is adapted for use in restaurants, andprovision is made for dispensing napkins, and also for dispensing otherarticles, such as sticks of chewing gum G. The dispensing of the latterarticles is effected by coinor check-controlled mechanism hereinafterdescribed.

An upright channel-shaped sheet metal frame '28 is mounted within thecasing and has a web 29 and opposite parallel side flanges 3d, which 5latter are spaced inwardly from the side walls I5 of the casing. Thefront edges of the flanges 38 lie adjacent the inner edges of theinturned casing flanges 23. The web 29 has a base flange 3I which issecured by one or more rivets 32 to the 10 bottom Il, and the sideflanges 30 have respective embossments 33 at their lower front cornerssecured to the inner faces of the bottom flanges I8 by a pair of therivets I9, as best seen in Fig 5.

An upright channel-shaped gum magazine 3l 15 of sheet metal is `mountedwithin the channel frame 28 and has a web 38 parallel to and spacedforwardly from thechannel frame web 29. The opposite side flanges 39 ofthe magazine are parallel to and spaced inwardly from the side fianges20 38 of the channel frame and are secured thereto by rivets 40 whichpass through abutting embossments 4I and 42 formed respectively on theframe flanges and magazine flanges. The side flanges 39 of the magazineare lprovided along their front 25 edges with inturned lips 43 spaceddownwardly from the upper end of the magazine to facilitate loading.

The upper end of the magazine is closed while the lower end is open andis spaced a short dis- 30 tance above a sheet metal platform 44.Downwardly projecting ears 48 are formed on the lower edges of themagazine side walls 39 to fit in apertures 4i formed in the platform.The platform has a down-turned front flange 45 sub- 35 stantially flushwith the casing flanges 23. Downturned side ears 46 on the platform aresecured by rivets 41 to the side flanges 30 of the channel frame 28, anda down-turned rear flange 48 is secured to the web 29 of the channelframe by one or 40 more rivets 49.V

A stack of gum sticks G in the magazine 31 is supported on the platform44 and is surmounted by a hollow sheet metal follower 50 of rectangularcross-section loosely fitting in the 45 magazine against relativerotation to prevent disarrangement of the gum sticks when the casing istilted, as during the operation of loading napkins. The front face ofthe follower may bear a suitable advertising legend. The follower 50 maybe removed from the magazine during the loading operation.

The front of the casing adjacent the gum magazine is closed by aremovable sheet metal cover or front plate 5I having a suitable key- 55operated lock 52 at its upper end with a bolt engageable behind theupper casing flange 2 I. The lower edge of the cover is spaced from theplatform 44 to form a delivery slot 53. At its opposite lower corners,`the cover is provided with rearwardly and downwardly projecting ears 54(Fig. 8) to rest on the platform 44, the ears having downwardlyprojecting lugs 55 entering notches 58 formed in the platform (Fig. 4)The cover has an inspection opening 51 defined by an inturned lip 58. Agasket 59 surrounds the opening at the inner face of the cover and has aglass plate 68 bearing thereagainst and retained by flanged side tracks5| secured to the inner face of the cover, the lower endsof the trackflanges being bent to form stops. The lower edge of the cover has aninturned flange 62.

A coin drawer 63 is slidably mounted in the casing below the platform 44and has a key-operated lock 64 in its front wall with a bolt engageablebehind the down-turned front flange 45 of the platform. The drawerslidably rests on parallel rails 'l' formed on the bottom The platform44 slidably supports thereon an ejector or feeder 65 in the form of ahorizontal plate confined against upward movement by rearwardlyprojecting flanges (S8 on the bottom of the rear wall 38 of the gummagazine. The ejector has lugs 61 at opposite ends (Fig. 4) extendingthrough horizontal slots 68 formed in the side flanges 30 of the frame28. The fro-nt edges of the lugs 61 have notches 69 to receive theupwardly projecting arms of wire springs '10, each spring having anintermediate portion coiled about a headed pin 1| secured to the sideflange 30 and having a rearwardly projecting arm anchored in a notch 12(Fig. 2) formed in the lower edge of the sideY ilange. The bottomflanges I8 have notches I8 to provide clearance for the pins 'l Thesprings 'l0 urge the ejector rearwardly against the frame wall 29, outof register with the lower end of the gum magazine. 'Ihe follower 50 inthe gum magazine has a beveled lower rear corner 50 so as to be liftedby the advancing ejector when the magazine is empty, thus avoidingblocking of the ejector.

The upper casing wall I6 has formed therein a coin slot 13 whichregisters with a coin chute carried on the gum magazine and consistingof angles 14 spot welded or otherwise secured to the rear wall V38 ofthe magazine and having spaced parallel chute-forming flanges joined byspot welded connections at their rear edges to an interposed verticalstrip l5. Another slot '|6 is formed in the upper casing wall i6 atright-angles to the coin slot 73, and receives therethrough a plungermetal and having parallel ears 83 at oppposite ends pivotallyrmounted onaligned pins 84 secured to embossments 85 formed on the side walls orflanges 30 of the frame 28. The embossments extend downwardly totheslots 68 and form the upper edges of these slots. The central part ofthe upper wall of the coin-driving member 82 is cut away to provideclearance for the coin chute 14, 15, as seen in Fig. 3, the coin chutehaving a converging lower end extending below the member 82. Thecoin-driving member is urged upwardly by a tensioned coiled spring 86having its lower end secured theretoA and having its upper end anchoredto a lug 8l on the plunger guide or strap '|9. The spring-urgedcoin-driving member lifts with it the plunger T1, the loop 8| on theplunger striking the lower edge of the strap to limit the upwardmovement of the plunger and coin-driving member.

The ejector 85 is displaceable forwardly by a rocker frame consisting ofa pair o-f side arms 88 joined by a coin-engaging cross plate 89. Theupper ends of the arms are pivotally mounted on the pins 84, and thelower ends are curved and bear in notches 90 (Fig. 4) formed in the rearedges of the lugs 6l on the ejector 85, thus preventing endwisedisplacement of the ejector.

A coin guide or chute is mounted on the rear wall 29 of the frame 28 inalignment with the chute 14, 'l5 to receive the coins at the lowerportion of their travel, and consists of a pair of angles 9| secured asby spot welding to the wall 29 and having spaced parallel flangesforming a coin passage. A cam track or abutment 92 is secured betweenthe parallel flanges and adjacent the wall 29 to effect the downwardrelease of the coins after reaching a certain point in their travel.Below the lower coin guide, the ejector 65 and platform 44 are providedwith respective openings 93 and 94 to permit released coins'to drop intothe coin drawer 63.

In order to prevent repeated operation of the coin ejectorby a singlecoin or check, means are provided to prevent a complete stroke of theplunger 'I1 unless an introduced coin is released into the coin drawer.An angle bracket 95 is secured to the rear wall 29 of the frame 28 andhas a forwardly projecting flange adjacent the coin chute 14, 15. Abell-crank 96 is pivotally secured to the bracket flange by a rivet 91,and has a downwardly projecting stop-forming arm which is urgedforwardly by a coiled spring 98 attached to the bracket. A shorterforwardly projecting arm on the bell-crank is urged downwardly by acoiled spring 99 secured at its lower end to the cross plate 89 of theejector-displacing arms 88. The downwardly projecting bell-crank arm ismovable rearwardly into the path of the plunger loop 8| to prevent acomplete upward stroke of the plunger unless an introduced coin lspassed in the coin drawer, as hereinafter described.

A guard |00 of sheet metal has a body portion below the platform 44 andprovided with trunnions |0| at opposite side edges rockably supported inears |02 projecting downwardly from the platform. At its front portionthe guard has a pair of upstanding flanges |03 which pass through slots|04 in the front portion of the platform to block the delivery passage53. At its rear portion the guard |00 has a pair of upwardly bent sidefingers |05 which are movable through openings |06 formed in theplatform and bear against the bottom surface of the ejector 65 when thelatter is in its retracted position, thus holding the stop flanges |03in their upper blocking positions to prevent withdrawal of gum sticks.The guard |00 is also urged to such position by one or more leaf springs|01 secured at their front ends to the upper surface of the guard byrivets |08 and bearing at their rear ends against the bottom surface ofthe platform 44 rearwardly of the trunnions |0|. The blocking movementof the guard |00 is limited by the abutment oi the front portion of theguard against the bottom surface of the platform. The guard carriesupstanding cam projections |09 at opposite side edges forwardly of thetrunnions |0| and movable through slots I0 formed in the platform 44.The cam projections |09 are depressed by the notched front edge of theejector as the ejector is moved on an advancing stroke, thus rocking theguard and moving the front flanges |03 thereon downwardly to unblock thedelivery passage 53 for the discharge of a stick of gum. The ejector 55has parallel slots therein spaced from the front edge of the plate topermit the cam projections |09 to rise therein after the stick of gum isremoved and while the plate is advanced, thus discouraging tampering.

In operation, a coin C is introduced into the coin slot '|3 in the topwall l0 of the casing and drops through the chute 14, 15 to the positionseen in Fig. 1, where it rests on edge on the cross plate 89 of theejector arms 88 and on the upper portion of the cam track 92 of thelower guide or chute. The plunger 11 is then depressed by the nger torock the coin-driving member 82 downwardly against the action of thespring 88. The member 82 pushes the coin downwardly and forwardly alongthe cam track 92, and the descending coin pushes the cross plate 89forwardly, as seen in Fig. 2, to swing the ejector arms 88 forwardly.'I'he ejector 05 is thus advanced along the platform 44 and in the irstpart of its movement depresses `the cam projections |09 on the guard |00to swing the latter to unblocking position, the rear guard'ngers |05being free to rise behind the advancing ejector. The ejector in itsfurther movement pushes the lowermost stick of gum through the deliveryopening 53 in position either to fall out or to readily be withdrawn bythe lingers. The plunger I1 is depressed further from the passingposition shown in Fig. 2 to cause the coin to move over the hump of thecam track 92 and to drop into the coin drawer 93, whereupon the ejectoris moved by the springs l0 to its retracted position, the arms 88 beingalso movable rearwardly with the ejector. The plunger 'l1 is thereuponreleased to the elevated position of Fig. 1. As soon as the ejector isretracted, the stack of gum sticks G drops to the platform 44 inreadiness for another operation.

If the plunger is released from the position of Fig. 2 in an attempt toeffect repeated operation with a single coin, the coin will not drop tothe coin drawer but will rise a short distance along the cam track 92under the urge of the springpressed ejector. The upward movement of theplunger is limited, however, by the bell-crank 98, as seen in Fig. 6,which is urged to stopping position by the spring 99 attached to thecross plate 89 of the ejector arms 88, thereby limiting the retractionof the ejector and preventing its Vwithdrawal from beneath the stack ofgum sticks, so as to prevent unauthorized removal of the articles. Inthis condition of the device the anges |03 of the guard |00 are in theirupper position, blocking the delivery passage 53. In the normaloperation of the device when the coin is released into the coin drawer,the tension on the spring 99 is lessened by the complete retraction ofthe ejector arms 88, whereupon the spring 98 moves the bell-crank 96 outof stopping position to permit full release of the plunger to its 10Fig. 1 position.

In assembling the device, the gum magazine 31 with its attached coinchute is fastened to the frame 28 by the rivets 40, and the frame 28 isattached to the bottom by the rivet 32. The 15 upper casing member l5,I6 is then mounted in place, a pair of the rivets 9 securing togetherthe frame 28, the bottom ilanges |8 and the side walls I5. n

What we claim as new and desire to secure by 20 Letters Patent is:

1. In a dispenser, the combination of articledelivery means including aswingably mounted member having a coin abutment, a movably mountedcoin-driver, a second coin abutment be- 25 tween which and saidfirst-named abutment a coin is urged and passed by said coin-driver torock said swingably mounted member on an article-delivery stroke, andmeans controlled by the article-delivery means to prevent repeated 30operation of said article-delivery means by the same coin.

2. In a dispenser, the combination of articledelivery means including aswingably mounted member having a coin abutment, a swingably 35 mountedcoin-driver, an actuator for swinging said coin driver, a second coinabutment between which and said first-named abutment a coin is urged andpassed by said coin-driver to rock said first-named swingably mountedmember on an article-delivery stroke, and a movably mounted stop membershiftable to stopping position by the coin-displaced member to limit theretracting movement of the coin-driver.

Cil

3. The combination of a shiftably mounted 45 member, a movably mounted,moin-driver, an abutment between which and said member a coin is urgedby said driver to displace said shiftably mounted member, an actuatingplunger for moving said coin-driver, and spring means 50 for retractingsaid coin driver and holding it in engagement with said plunger.

4. The combination of a shiftably mounted member, coin-operated meansfor displacing said member including a coin-driver, a stop.for limit- 55ing the retraction of said coin-driver, anda resilient connectionbetween said stop and member for moving said stop to stopping positionwhen said member is in an advanced position.

60 SAMUEL N. HOPE. PAUL DRATH.

